23 COVID-19 Cases Today (24 Apr); 5 Are Community Cases

With today’s report, it seems like Ong Ye Kung will have a challenging job ahead as he takes the role of the Health Minister from 15 May.

As of 12pm today (24 Apr), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed 23 new cases of COVID-19 infection.

18 of them are imported cases, and 5 are community cases. This is the highest number of community cases reported in 3 months. MOH will provide more details about the cases tonight.

This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 60,966.

Based on yesterday’s figures, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 4 cases in the week before to 10 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 3 cases in the week before to 5 cases in the past week.

2 of the 3 Locally Transmitted COVID-19 Cases Reported Yesterday Have Taken 2 Vaccine Doses

If you rubbed your eyes after checking the COVID-19 numbers for the day, you weren’t the only one.

A total of 39 COVID-19 cases were recorded yesterday, three of whom were locally transmitted infections.

They included two community cases and one from a migrant workers’ dormitory.

One of the community cases is a 38-year-old Indonesian man who arrived in Singapore on 28 March for a work project.

He had been vaccinated in Indonesia before his trip – he received his first dose on 4 March and his second dose on 18 March.

He was issued a stay-home notice (SHN) upon arrival which he served until 11 April. He tested negative during his quarantine.

But when he took a pre-departure test on Thursday (22 Apr) before his flying back to Indonesia, his result came back positive.

The other community case is also from Indonesia. The 33-year-old man is a crew member on a ship.

He had arrived here from Indonesia on 4 Feb, testing negative on his arrival and during his SHN.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), the man had not left his vessel except to be vaccinated.

But the coronavirus still somehow found its way to him.

It turns out that the man had received his first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine on 16 April, but has not received his second dose yet.

MOH explained that it typically takes a few weeks for an individual to build up immunity after completing vaccination, so it’s possible to get infected before or just after vaccination.

But there was another COVID-19 patient who had completed his vaccination regimen before getting infected.

The 21-year-old Indian national resides at SCM Tuas Lodge – a migrant workers’ dormitory – and is here on a work permit.

He’s employed by Sembcorp Marine Integrated Yard and works at Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard.

He had received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on 11 March, and the second on 1 Apr.

However, when the authorities carried out rostered routine testing on Monday (19 Apr), the man’s pooled test result came back positive.

The man is asymptomatic, however, something which MOH believes can be attributed to his vaccination.

“The COVID-19 vaccine is effective in preventing symptomatic disease for the vast majority of those infected, but it is possible for vaccinated individuals to get infected,” it said.

The ministry added that further research is necessary to ascertain if the vaccine will prevent onward transmission of the virus.

All three locally transmitted cases are currently unlinked.

To know more about vaccines in Singapore, watch this video to the end:

300 Active Cases

There are currently 80 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 1 is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

220 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

30 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com (Image for illustration purpose only)